Railnews Magazine June 2019 Back Issue

MAY was a month when legal disputes and rolling stock grabbed the headlines. Stagecoach has started High Court action against the Department for Transport over its allegedly illegal handling of the three franchises from which Stagecoach was excluded, while it is now confirmed that Arriva is making its own claim for similar reasons.

There were celebrations, however, when Azumas finally entered service with LNER, while GWR has bidden farewell to scheduled HSTs from London Paddington. Meanwhile, the launch of Caledonian Sleepers for the Highlands was postponed, after problems marred the Lowland launch. Still with new trains, Greater Anglia passengers at London Liverpool Street had an unexpected glimpse of the future in May, when the first Class 745 Stadler train arrived on test.

This month’s feature is the first of two parts telling the story of the Intercity Expresses since they were originally proposed by the DfT in 2007.

In other news, the new shape of Network Rail goes live on 24 June, when the company will be reshaped into 13 routes and five regions.

The Rail Delivery Group is proposing a new ‘independent national organising body’ for the industry, ‘acting as the glue that binds it together’.

Financial news includes a National Audit Office report which says the way Crossrail was planned increased costs unnecessarily, while a two-year pay deal has been agreed by Network Rail and the RMT, which the union described as ‘inflation busting’. Sir Richard Branson has called for all franchise competitions to be scrapped until the recommendations of the Williams Rail Review have been published.

Finally, a teenager who was seriously injured while trespassing on the railway has been commended for supporting a safety drive, and a veteran railwayman was given a special welcome by today’s staff at Liverpool Lime Street station and Edge Hill depot.